CHRYSALIS. ARTISTS IN LABS

This hands-on workshop with artist and researcher Helena Nikonole, pursuing a PhD at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Die Angewandte) on Large Language Models and Political Ideologies, explores how contemporary AI systems encode and reproduce ideological narratives. The event takes place in the framework of the project CHRYSALIS. Artists in Labs, organised by Art Laboratory Berlin in cooperation with Berlin Open Lab and other cooperation partners, with the generous support of the Lotto Stiftung Berlin. The workshop will take place in the Einstein Center for Digital Future in Berlin Mitte.


Focusing on Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, as well as derivative systems like text-to-image generators, participants will investigate how AI reproduces political bias and ideological framing through language and visual representation. Through experiments with politically charged prompts, participants will analyze how these models interpret ideology, shape discourse, and amplify systemic bias. Alongside practical exercises, the workshop includes theoretical discussions on the ethics and politics of LLMs, touching on topics such as algorithmic propaganda (sometimes referred to as “LLM grooming”), data-driven governance, and the reproduction of hegemonic worldviews through training datasets.

Helena Nikonole will share her insights and artistic methodology, demonstrating how artistic research can become a critical tool for revealing and subverting AI biases. Presenting her ongoing experiments based on the misuse of technology – intentionally pushing AI systems beyond their designed boundaries – she will show how such creative interventions expose the ideological and structural limitations of machine intelligence. Participants will gain both conceptual understanding and hands-on experience, learning to approach AI critically while exploring its potential as a tool for artistic inquiry, political reflection, and creative subversion.

Helena Nikonole is a new media artist, independent curator, researcher, and educator based between Berlin and Istanbul. Her fields of interest include AI, hacktivism, hybrid art, and biosemiotics. She is the co-founder of 868labs – a Berlin-based collective developing tactical tools for decentralized, off-grid communication. One part of her practice is dedicated to utopian scenarios of a post-human future and art as innovation, while another focuses on the dystopian present and a critical approach to technology. As a researcher, she is currently working on a PhD on LLMs and political ideologies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.